By Jon Peterson
As interest for industrial product across the west coast continues unabated, institutional investors look deeper into the markets to extend their footprint. Conshohocken, Pa.-based EQT Exeter just added to its growing portfolio by acquiring the 329,474 square foot Nortek Air Solutions Campus in Tualatin, Ore. The purchase price on the property was $46.5 million, or just over $141 per square foot, according to public records.
The seller of the property was Meriwether Partners, which has offices in both Portland and Seattle. It was represented in the sale by CBRE PNW Capital Markets. The listing agent on the sale declined to comment when contacted for this story.
Meriwether had owned the property since 2017. The real estate investment firm had acquired the property in that year for $26.5 million, according to information on its website. The capital for this purchase was a private partnership between Meriwether principals and a number of high net-worth individuals.
The industrial asset is located at 19855 SW 124th Avenue in Tualatin, and the property covers a total of 25.12 acres. The property is 100 percent leased to Nortek Air Solutions, and it is considered a core asset for investment purposes. The tenant has an existing lease that has another 11 years left in the agreement. Nortek is using the property as a manufacturing facility.
The sale of the property was concluded at a cap rate of around five percent, according to sources familiar with the property. This return is based on the property’s current net operating income. The cap rate on this sale would have been lower if the buildings were used for more traditional type of industrial uses, such as distribution.
EQT Exeter is a new trade name of Exeter Property Group. Exeter was acquired by EQT in January of this year for $1.9 billion, according to published reports. The company is known as a national investor in both core and value-add industrial assets.
The Nortek Air property is located in the Southwest portion of the Portland industrial market. This region totals 40.1 million square feet of properties, according to data compiled by CBRE. Through the first quarter of this year, vacancy in the Southwest sub-market was at four percent.
